The Sun. — London, England, 1864-01-12 00:00:00

THE 7gEW ZEALAND WAR, (From the Times Correspondent.) MELBOURNE, Nov. 20, 1863. The Maories have effected their retreat from Mere-Mere apparently without the loss of a man. They escaped by "the back door," as they had done on other occasions, and all the General's precau tions to prevent this have proved abortive, no doubt to his great mortification ; but, as it appears to me, owing to a circumstance—the peculiar condition of the river, which no one could have anticipated or provided against. For some time past the General, while concentrating all his disposable forces before the great stronghold of the natives at Mere-Mere, was understood to be waiting for the completion of the repairs to the new iron steam gunboat lately built at Sydney, and since called the Pioneer. Towards;the end of October, after a short delay by rough weather, she steamed out of Manukau, and entered the Waikato Heeds, ascending the river, and. taking her position in front. This was effected not without some fire from the natives, and the few guns in their possession were worked in such a way as to generate the suspicion that they were directed or that the Maories had been instructed by Euro peans. Knowing the aptitude of the Maories as I do, I do not think the mere fact of their skill with great guns warrants the suspicion that they are aided by Pakehas, They have had plenty of oppor tunity, any time these 20 years ,of observing the firing of battery guns in Auckland ; and, having obtained a few guns, they would soon learn to re duce their observation of birthday saluting to ball practice. It is said in one of the accounts that they also fired a rocket with precision, and the only sur prise I feel is as to where they obtained the round shot and where the rocket. However, neither round shot nor rocket made any impression on the ironclad Pioneer. Now, as to the operations. About 18 or 20 miles higher up the Waikato than Mere-Mere is another native position called Rangi riri (literally, angry heavens or angry sky). As our troops and gunboats had the entire command of the river, and also of the lower part of the small stream Marama-run, which flows into the Waikato below Mere-Mere, it was anticipated that the natives would rely on this way of retreat, as a native path, and perhaps more than one, leads from Mere-Mere, to Rangiriri, the more especially as the swampy ground in the rear (east) of Mere Mere was believed to be impracticable even to Maories. Accordingly, on Saturday, the 31st of October, the Pioneer, with 600 troops on board, was ordered up the river about nine miles higher than Mere Mere, where the troops were to land, and prevent the possibility of retreat in that direction. The natives must have perceived and appreciated the effect of this movement, for on Sunday morning, before daylight, they made a fierce attack on the troops before they were well in posi tion. Firing continued to be exchanged for about two hours, but with very little result, except that the Maories were driven off, and retired upon Mere Mere, while the troops retained their position, and thus all hope of a successful retreat upon Rangiriri was taken from the natives. The troops thus landed from the Pioneer were to face the north and advance towards Mere Mere on the Sunday, so as to be ready to moin in the assault on the Monday morning. The plan of attack was admirable. HOW was it defeated? How was it that, after so much preparation, a door for escape was left open to the Maories, of which they so effectually availed themselves as to get clear off without, so far as have yet learnt, the loss of a man? The swampy ground north, north-east, and east of Mere Mere was considered impracticable, and so, perhaps, it was under ordinary circum stances; but the extraordinary event which seems to have beflhd calculation was the swollen state of the rivers and swamps, which made the latter prac ticable for canoes. I am loth even to suggest that this was a blot in the General's tactics, which the natives hit, and I have no doubt that when his further despatches are published we shall learn why that contingency—namely, the flooding of swampy ground—was not anticipated and provided against. One account states that the natives " escaped across the swamps in 18 canoes, that they were seen and watched, but that the distance was too great to fol low." I fancy, however, that it was the nature of the country and the want of shallow boats capable of taking the swamp which proved the source of safety to the natives and disappointment to the troops. The Naval Brigade took possession of Mere- Mere with the three pieces of cannon, but not a Maori was there. The place is of great importance, and it is difficult to conceive how the natives can hold any part of the country between Mere-Mere and Rangiriri. Indeed, it is said they have sepa rated and gone eastward. Other accounts say they have " dispersed all over the county." The truth simply is they aro gone. and no one can as yet guess where they will be next be discovered. The proba bility is that we shall have a total change in the cha racter of the war. Repeated and rapid attacks by small parties of natives is the course in which they have best succeeded. They must kn ‘vre by this time that they never can hold a pah against our imple ments of warfare. It has always appeared to me that the natives over-estimated the value of the guns which they possessed, and that was the cause of their delusion as to the possibility of holding Mere-Mere. The Pioneer undeceived them. The General's tactics must now be in scme degree modified by those of the enemy. His "Flying Column" and "Forest Rangers" will most likely be augmented, and when we consider the native difficulty about their commissariat, and the acquisition of skill in bush warfare by our troops, it seems impossible for the natives to sustain the war for any length of time. They must suffer from the diseases incidental to scarcity and bad food to a far greater extent than from our weapons, and therefore it is to be lamented that Mere• Mere was not captured after some resistance with such marked superiority on our side as to reduce them to sub- mission. If the troops and volunteers had taken the pah , by assault, the officers in command would have had great difficulty in compelling the men to give much quarter. The appalling list of murders in a single month is enough to create great irritation in the breasts of the Europeans. Here is the list :—On October 14 a settler named Hamlin was shot, and a boy named Wallis, who was with him, was wounded; on the 16th Mr. Jackson and a lad named Suther land were attacked while at work fencing—the man shot and the lad tomahawked, but not kil ed ; on the 16th John Fahey, a pensioner, and his wife were attacked ; the man was severely wounded in his head with tomahawks, and the woman killed ; on the 24th two lads named Trust, while escaping from a house attacked by the natives, were shot; on No vember 2 a settler named Droomould was toma hawked. I have omitted soldiers from thislist, which must show that to treat these savages as wild beasts will soon become an instinct with the troops and volunteers. It was just the same at Taranaki, even children of very tender years were not safe from their tomahawks. The settlers call it murder, but it is not murder, nor can it be dealt with as mur der. It is the native mode of warfare. They have no fine-drawn distinctions between military and non-military, and these savage butcheries can now only be checked by the most severe and exemplary punishment. I am, indeed, inclined to view these savage slaughters as designed by the natives as a deadly challenge. A change of Ministry has taken place in New Zealand, which, according to all accounts --z. e., judging from certain speeches in the House of Re presentatives and from the tone of the principal newspapers north and south —promises a very vigorous prosecution of the war. It is, in fact, a coalition between the War and Peace parties of 1861, the latter being now convinced, as indeed every one must be, that the vigorous prosecution and successful conclusion of this war is the only security for future peace. The Ihmett Ministry is said to have fallen to pieces by internal differences. Mr. Fox, the leader of the party which adhered to peace in 1861, and which thought that war unjust, was sent for, and he united with Mr. Whitaker, the Attorney-General in Mr. Stafford's war Ministry of that day. Mr. Whitaker is Attorney-General and Premier, with a seat in the Legislative Council, and Mr. Fox is Colonial Secretary and leader in the House of Representatives. When the formation of the Ministry was announced Mr. Stcerford, the war man of 1861, expressed his entire satisfaction with and confidence in the arrangements, and Dr. Fea therstone, the peace man par excellence of that day, the superintendent of the province of Wellington, one of the most able and honest men in the colony, by whose influence with the Nga•li-awa the peace of the South was maintained during the Taranaki war, also expressed his confidence in the new Mini stry. These sentiments are generally echoed by the press. The policy of the Ministry was enunciated by Mr. Fox on the 3d inst. When he took office in 1861, though opposed to the war;and believing it originated in an unjust dealing with the land sold by Teira, but to which Kingi had substantial claims, he stated that if peaceable methods proved unsuccessful, if the natives, rejecting the overtures which should be made to them, were determined to continue their armed resistance, he should be found as firm to strike as he was then disposed to conciliate. Now he seems to be convinced that to strike is the only course left to the Government. The suppression of this rebellion is now announced to be the primary object to which everything else must yield and minister. As a natural consequence of rebellion comes punishment, in the shape of confiscation of land in Waikato and at Taranaki. Indeed, this was in a measure the foregone conclusion, for Mr. Ball, a member of the late Ministry, when here with Col. Pitt to raise the volunteer corps for service in New Zealand, plainly told thoee who enlisted that the lands wherewi t h to reward them were to be ac- quired by conquest from the Waikatos. Military settlements are to be established in the conquered and confiscated lands throughout the Waikato dis tricts, and from New Plymouth to Wanganui. For this purpose the Ministry proposes a new levy of 5,000 men in Australia, and, "if possible," no less than 15,000 in Great Britain and Ireland. This will, of course, be a work of time. The sale of land is to afford the means of paying whatever loans may be contracted, in order to carry out this scheme. Roads are to be steadily pushed forward through the Waikato country. The outbreak is to be treated as a " rebellion," and anything in the nature of belligerent rights is denied to the natives. Indeed, already a bill has been introduced to establish mar- tial law in Waikato, Mr. Fos, a barrister, being seem ingly well aware that the proclamation of martin' law, as in 1861, is absolutely illegal. This measure is based upon an Irish statute. When peace is restored by force of arms it is to be secured by making the natives give up their arms. In short, the Waikatos have made conquests a stern necessity to the Go vernment. The issue raised by them is, " Which shall be master ?'' There is one question which is often put, and which is not easy to answer—Will this war be con fined to Waikato and Taranaki I have very little doubt that if the Waikatos, acting more promptly than they have done when our force in New Zealand was scanty, had achieved a marked success against the troops a great number of the "friendly natives" would have joined in the war. The prestige in favour of the savage against the soldier would have been contagious, and hostility to the Pakeha might have developed itself throughout the northern island. But latterly, even in bush fighting, the success of the flying column and of parties of troops in several encounters with larger parties of natives has turned the prestige the other way. Some of the natives in the south entertained for a while considerable alarm lest the Pakehas should attack them. A few months ago the Nga-li-awa of the Wasrarapa Valley, near Wellington, had a meeting to consider what course they should adopt. This meeting originated in the alarm I have mentioned. They observed that the settlers were enrolling as militia or volunteers, and they could not avoid a suspicion that the first blow might be struck by the Europeans. Very wisely, one or two of the leading settlers—Mr. Revans and Mr. Smith, in whom the natives have confidence — attended the meeting, and explained that the arming and drilling was not for attack of any kind, but for defence in case of any hostile invasion by hostile natives from other parts. Mattel' assurances of support to preserve peace ensued, and I am assured that in that district Maori and Pakeha no longer look suspiciously on each other. The same line of policy was also pursued by Dr. Feather stone, the superintendent, at some meetings at Olaki, with the same happy result. The Nga-pui north of Auckland, who are numerous and intel ligent, have on several occasions expressed their satisfaction with the Government. They are the old enemies of the Waikato, and many of their ceiefs like Sir G. Grey personally. Whether they might not have been drawn into hostility if the Waikatos had been successful is scarcely worth while to specu late about, but certainly their " friendly " character is confirmed by the repeated successes of the troops in bush encounters. Thus the war is principally confined to the Waikato country, for even at Tara naki it is comparatively insignificant, having only a certain degree of importance from its acting as a diversion in favour of the Waikato, by keeping a body of troops employed there. The Thames natives, too, are by no means unanimous in favour of Thomp eon's party. Many natives there call themselves " friendly," and, although some of the newspapers look upin their friendliness with a very natural sus picion, they may be deemed waiters on Providence, who will not imperil their lands, if they think, as they are likely to do, that the troops must prevail sooner or later. Though the Maories who occupied Mere-Mere have escaped without loss, the whole length and breadth of Maoridom will understand this as a sore defeat. Gen. Cameron has the perfect command of the river, at ;least, as far as Rangiriri, and the possession of Mere-Mere makes the whole country, as far as Rangiriri untenable to the Maories. This latter place is so placed as to be liable to be knocked about their ears from the river, so that in all probehility it will be abandoned on the very first demonstration of the troops before it. How long the natives will be able to hold out and continue to harass the troops without any deci sive engagement it would be rash to say, " They have achieved their eighteenth murder," says a private letter, " and must be hunted like wild beasts." You will see from the very terms of the Ministerial policy that continued war is adopted by the Government and forced upon the natives, for they can scarcely desire peace in the terms of confiscation. It should seem that nothing is left to the natives but despair and vengeance, while to the settlers the natives have made absolute conquest a necessity and an instinct. There has been a good deal of skirmishing, in which the troops and volunteers are rapidly be coming accustomed to bush fighting, and in some instances the Europeans have prevailed against numbers. One of these encounters deserves notice. On Saturday, the 17th of October, some firing being heard at Mauku, a party of 50 volunteers, under Lieut. Lusk, started for that place. They came within sight of the natives ; and Lieutenant Lusk, thinking his party small, sent to the stockade for more. Twelve men, under Lieut. Percival, left the stockade, but seem to have missed their way, for they came upon a large body of natives, and with stood an encounter for about half an hour, but, finding themselves so greatly outnumbered, they succeeded in retiring and joining the main body. The whole body of between 60 and 70 men then marched towards where the natives were firing at random, when they were completely surrounded and fired on in all directions. The men behaved with great steadiness and gallantry, and the native loss was considerable ; but, of course, the volunteers could not prevail against such odds. Lieut. Per ceval was shot, and six or seven were wounded, of whom twa have since died. Poor Perceval behaves with great coolness and gallantry. He was well known in this colony, and was, it is sa:d, a grand son of Mr. Perceval who was shot by Bellingham. ROYAL FREE HOSPITAL, GRAY'S INN-ROAD. — The numlo,: , r of patients relieved at this hospital during the week ending Jan. 9 was 2,472, of which 745 were new cases. [ADVEliTlSEMENTd — Holloway'sOintment.—Painless C urea.— Sores,wounds, ulcerations, and otherdiseases affect ing the skin are amendable by this cooling; healing unguent. It has called forth the loudest praises from persons who had suffered for years from abscesses and chronic ulcers, after every hope of cure had passed away. None but those who have experienced the soothing effect of this Ointment can form an idea of the comfort it bestows by restraining inflammation and allaying pain. Whenever this Ointment has been once used it has established its own worth and has again been eagerly sought for as the easiest and safest remedy for all ulcerous complaints. In neuralgic, rheuma tism, and gout, the same application properly used gives wonderful relief. TIM SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY EVENING, JANUARY 12, 1864. CHARGE OF SWINDLING. Yesterday afternoon, at the Justice-room of the Mansion house, Alderman Waterlow was for some time engaged in investigating the circumstances connected with an extraor dinary charge of swindling preferred against Henry Horace Linguarde, described as an actor, and as residing at Butler street-buildings, East Smithfield, who had been remanded from the previous Monday. The case excited considerable interest, and the court was crowded during the examination, To render the proceedings of yesterday intelligible it is necessary shortly to recapitulate the evidence given on the first examinationtof the prisoner before the Lord Mayor. It was then proved that on Saturday week the prisoner, alight ing from a carriage, entered the shop of Mr. Thos. Mills, a clothier in Aldgate, where he was an entire stranger, and selected clothes to the amount of £2l 175., for which sum he wrote on a sheet of note paper a check on the Provident Savings bank in St. Martin's-place, Trafalgar-square. From among the clothes he bought he selected a full suit, which he put on at once, including an overcoat. He then went to the hosiery department, and selected goods to the amount of £5B 145., which he directed to be sent to No. 4, Ovington-square, Brompton. He complained of being thirsty, upon which the attendant, Joseph Milhous°, gave him some wine and a cigar. He then asked if he could dine in the neighbourhood, and the shopman mentioned the name of a house a few doors off. The shopman, whom he invited to dine, accompanied him there. After dinner the prisoner asked him to pay the bill, Bs. 7d., and place the amount to his account, which the shopman did, and they returned to gether to the shop. By this time a messenger who had been sent to get the check cashed had returned and reported that the bank was closed for the day, and he had not got the money. Upon that the prisoner said he had no money about him, but that if the shopman would ride with him in his carriage to Ovington-square ho would pay for the clothes he had on and hand him a check upon Messrs. Coutta for the balance, amounting to £69 odd, The attendant went with him there accordingly, and the prisoner asked at the house No, 4 for some one by name. The reply was that no such person resided there,upon which the prisoner, still attended by the shopman, drove to some livery stables near Russell-square, where he had hired the carriage. Arrived there he was going away without paying for the use of it, when the proprietor presentedhim self, and, in the result, the prisoner, who had stated he had no money about him, left the undercoat he had shortly be fore selected at Mr. Mills's shop in pledge for 255., the hire of the carriage, the shopman Millhouse strongly remonstra ting, on the ground that the garment had not been paid for, and eventually giving the prisoner into custody. On that evidence the prisoner had been remanded, and yesterday Mr. Wontner, solicitor, of Bucklersbury, who at tended to conduct the prosecution, said it was necessary that he should state some circumstances in the prisoner's career. He had, in the first instance, given an address at the Goat Inn, Farnham, but that statement was incorrect. He was certainly known at Farnham, and that to the cost of some of the inhabitants, but the landlord of the Goat disclaimed his acquaintance a'together. In November last ho was convic ted in 40s, and costs for riding to Aldershot by railway without a ticket, and refusing to pay the fare, and in default of payment hr was sent to the House of Correction for a month. Tba:, ought to have had some effect in improving his morals, btt not so, as was shown by the fraud he had since practised upon Mr. Mills on Saturday week. With respect to histransactions with the livery-stable keeper,Mr Hicks, he, inthe first instance, wanted to buy a horse and carriage then, but a servant whom he saw declined, in the absence of hs master, to undertake the sale, and the pri soner contented himself with hiring a carriage for the day. He went to ,he shop of Mr. Medwin, in Regent- street,:and bought goofs to the amount of £3 13s, which he took away in the carriage, paying for them with a sham cheque and thinkitg it beneath his dignity to take either the invoice or meipt, which was tendered him. Thence he went to the shop of a tailor at the west end of the town, and, representing that he was about to be married, selected a :mart overcoat, tendering a similar check in payment, which, however, was declined, and " my lord," teking umlvage, drove off in his carriage. He next pre sented himself at the shop of Mr. Dant, the jeweller in the Strand, andordered jewellery to the amount of £6O, for which he gave a check on the Provident Savings Bank, but that was refused and the prisoner tsok nothingby the transaction. Since his wrest the result of inquiry at the Provident Savings Balk in St. Martin's-place showed that in March, 1860, the p•isoner, who then described himself as an actor, and resided in Nicholas-equate, Hackney, deposited £25 in the bank, tut drew it out about ten days afterwards, and he had never lad any transactions with the bank since, though many of hi! sham checks had been from time to time pre sented then to be cr.shed. Probably the Court would think it would be for the benefit of the public that this man's ca reer of fraud should be put an end to, and that the proper course would bo to send him to the Old Bailey, where a jury would deal with him and his checks in an exemplary manner. Mr. James Down was called. lie said—l am a tailor and outifiter in the Strand. On Saturday, Jan. 2, the prisoner called on me about 12 o'clock in the day in a carriage, with a servant, and selected a light brown overcoat, the price of which was £2 ss, for which he offered to give a check, I said it was not usual with me to take checks from strangers, but that if he would write a check I would get it cashed and then send the coat to his address, or he could call again That he agreed to do, and wrote the check produced on the Provident Savings Bank. In less than hour he called again. I had presented the check in the meantime, and it was dis honoured. I told him it was an ungentlemanly transaction; my father, who was present, went further, and called him a swindler. The prisoner merely said something about " an other man in the Strand having taken his check," and then entered his carriage and drove off. He hed mentioned Mr. Dent, and I supposed it was he who had taken the cheek. Robert Verity, foreman to lair. James Medwin, of 86, Regent-street, bootmaker, deposed that on Saturday, the 2d of January, the prisoner called there in a phaeton, be tweea 12 and 1 o'clock, and said he wanted to be fitted with some boots. Witness showed him some, and he selected four pairs of boots, one pair of leggings, and a pair or slippers, which came to £1 13s. Ho made out a bill and gave it receipted to the prisoner, who then wrote the check produced for the amount on the Providence Savings-bank. On being asked for his address, he said, " Goat's Head Hotel, Farnham." He took the goods away in the phaeton, leav ing the bill and receipt on the counter. Later in the day the check was returned to witness dishonoured. John Level Dening, clerk at the Provident Savings bank, St. Martin's-place, Trafalgar-square, said the pri soner had no account there, and that the directors of the bank never paid by checks, Since March, 1860, he had had no money there at all. Alderman Waterlow--What did you then know of him ? Witness—He attended at the bank on the:l7th of March, 1860, and paid in £25, which he drew out on the 30th. He had been there since in Connection with another account which was not in his name but in that of a minor, Alderman Waterlow--Had he any power to draw on any other account ? Witness—No. The prisoner said the minor referred to was his son. Witness said money at the bank belonging to a minor could no; be touched by a third Party, unless with the minor's consent indicated oy a power of attorney. Mr. Charles Hicks, a livery stable-keeper in Keppel-street, Russell-square, said,—Ox the 2d of January the prisoner had a phaeton from my establishment. I was not at home when it was hired, but I was when he brought it back. The charge was 255., including the driver. lie was getting into a cab to go away without paying or returning the phaeton. He said he skould require a carriage next morning, and he would pay then, I asked for payment at once, he being a stranger. He replied that ho had got no money about him, and then walking into the efiunting-house with me ho said, "Give me some paper and I'll write you a check." I mid a check was no use to rae, and that I had had trouble enough with him already, without his check. He rep,ied that he could not pay, upon which I said he must have some deposit with me for the charge. He said he had got nothing to leave. I remarked that ho was wearing a good greatcoat, upon which the tailor who was with him stepped forward and said, "That belongs to me." The prisoner then took off his under coat sad handed it to me. The tailor, interposing, said "That belongs to me also," (A. laugh.) I said I woald take care of it until I was paid. The WIG: and he then went away, and jest as they were leaving a cabman drove us and said to me, " Mr. Hicks, I want to see you. I drove this gentleman (Pointing to the prisoner) to your yard this morning, who came to hire a carriage, aid o n leaving the cob ho told me you wo uld pay his fare.' (A laugh) I said I would not. The prisoner, who was then standing by my side, heard that. TI -o prisoner—That is rather a high price for your trap for aalf a day, Mr. Hicks, is it not ? Witness was told by the Court he need not enema. that question, and he did not. Wontner said it was right be should state that a few w eeks ago the prisoner was taken before Mr. Nortek, the Lambeth police magistrate, as a common cheat. IT was t hen charged with obtaining provisions from tradesmen in Lambeth on various pretences. The evidence, howeve., did not quite establish the offence, and Mr. Norton discharged him. On that occasion a number of cabmen, whom hi had defrauded, attended, and it then appeared that he was well known to their fraternity, and went by the soubriqtet of " The Ghost," A gentleman from Fa:nham also saic that recently the prisoner got u p an entertainment there, at which he was announced to play " The Ghost." A number of people went and paid their money at the door, and when the time arrived for the commencement of the performance The Ghost was nowhere to be found, hence the cognomen of in whose custody the prisoner was, saidhim e G in b searchinguhtoan y st. ' Police-constablehe empty p a t c a k' at the police-station he found nothin g upon card. case, a bill for refreshments and some cabmen's ticke t s. cabman ne A ss-box, saidhe named receCnlitiay drove th e p r i soner t o th e Oxford s. Woolley, stepping into the wh rns. an A d paid ss. ile afterward s d rove hi m to a pl ace ins. for a lobster supper and cigars for him there ( where the prisoner got never saw him again t o h u e t o n n e d ig w hb on ou t r u h p oo o rtdooouf thelliTiotnweesir, un til now, so that he lost the price of the supper and his fare. He hoped the prisoner enjoyed h s supper. (A. laugh.) Mr. Anidjah, l oo king-glass niainfacturer in Bishopsgate street-without, said the prisoner, who was a stranger to THE TOWNLEY CASE. The following is a copy of the letter addressed by Sir George Grey to Mr. Evans, M.P., in reply to the memorial of the magistrates of the county of Derby in the case of George Victor Townley : To T. W. EVANS, ESQ., M.P., ALLESTREE-11.iLL, DERBY. Whitehall, Jan. 8. Sir,—l am directed by Secretary Sir George Grey to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 7th inst., trans- mitting a letter addressed to him by the magistrates of the county of Derby, whose signatures are attached to it. LSir George Grey has lead that letter with the attention to which both the importance of the subject it refers to, and the persons from whom it proceeds, justly entitle it. In order to place the magistrates in full possession of the proceedings which have taken place with reference to the case of George Victor 'Townley, a copy of the corres pondence between this office and the Lunacy Commis sioners, together with two certificates of Townley's insanity received by the Secretary of State, and of the order for the removal of the prisoner to Bethlem Hospital under the pro visions of the statute 3 and 4 Viet., cap. 54, sec. 1, will be transmitted to you as socn as it can be prepared. The magistrates will learn from this correspondence that it was in consequence of information conveyed to the Secre tary of State by the learned judge before whom the prisoner was tried, that, in his opinion, a further inquiry as to the sanity of the prisoner was necessary, that the Lunacy Com missioners were requested by the Secretary of State to undertake the inquiry. Sir George Grey feels that it was impossible to refuse an inquiry so recommended by the judge, and he is not aware that, under the circumstances of the case, he could have intrusted the inquiry to more able or responsible persons, or to persons likely to conduct it with greater impartiality and freedom from any precon ceived opinion or doubtful theories. The Commissioners' report is among the papers which will be sent you with the least possible delay, but the Secretary of State was not called upon to decide on that report alone whether the sen tence of the law ought to be executed or not, because at the same time that he received it he received also a certificate, dated December 27, signed by three justices of the peace (one for the county and two for the borough of Derby) and two medical men, stating, in the terms required by law, that they had examined and inquired into the mental state of the prisoner, and certifying that he was insane. This was followed by a certificate to the same effect, dated the 29th of December, and signed by two justices of the peace for the county of Derby (one of them being the same who had signed the former certificate), and the same two medi cal men. Copies of these certificates are also among the papers which will be sent to you. Upon these certificates from four justices of the peace and two medical practi tioners the prisoner, in accordance with the construction which has been uniformly placed on the section of the Act before mentioned, was ordered to be removed to Bethlem Hospital, the capital sentence being respited, but not com muted. e,The magistrates in their letter of the sth inst. say, with reference to the inquiry made by two magistrates, aided by two medical men, that that inquiry did not, like all previous inquiries of the same kind, originate with the gaol authori ties, but was promoted and conducted as a matter of profes sional business by Townley's legal adviser. Sir Geo. Grey had no previous information that this was the case,nor could he be in any way responsible for any irregularity—if irre gularity there was—in the proceedings. No person other than a magistrate could be admitted to examine the prisoner or to inquire into his mental state without the sanction of the visiting justices or of the Secretary of State; and as the visiting justices must therefore have been aware of the pro ceeding, and as no communication on the subject was re ceived from them at the time, or has been received up to the present time by the Secretary of State, he could only presume that what was done was done with their knowledge and sanction. So far, however, as it concerned the steps to be taken by the Secretary of State, in conformity with the law, on the receipt of such a certificate, it was immaterial how the inquiry originated, provided the certificate was in accordance with the provisions of the statute. There is one other passage in the letter from the maxis • trates to which Sir George Grey thinks it right to refer. They say that the effect of the respite of Townley and of his removal to a lunatic asylum "has bun to cause much dissatisfaction, and to create a feeling, greatly to be lamented, that there is one law for the rich and another for the poor; that justice has been turned aside by the power of money ; and that if Townley and his friends had been poor he would have been executed." The magistrates may possess information as to the expenditure of money by Townley's friends of which the Secretary of State has no knowledge ; nor is he aware of the manner in which the magistrates believe such money to have been expended. But the most satisfactory proof which can bo given that the course taken with regard to Townley is one which it re quired no expenditure of money to obtain, and which would have been equally taken had Townley and his friends been poor, is a reference to a similar case which occurred at the Spring Assizes held at Newcastle•on-Tyne in 1862, when a man named Clark, himself a poor man, and with no friends who were not also poor, and in whose defence no counsel even was retained, was convicted of wilful murder and sen tenced to death. In that case, as in the case of Townley, the learned judge before whom Clark was tried, in report ing the case to the Secretary of State, expressed his opinion that the verdict was right, but called the attention of the Secretary of State to the evidence as to the unsound state of mind of the prisoner at the time of the trial, as havinv, to use his own words, ":so intensely important a bearing upon the question whether he ought to be executed." In conse quence of this representation from the judge, an inquiry as to the insanity of the prisoner was directed by the Secretary of Ste' e, and the result in that case, as in the present, was his removal to a lunatic asylum. Sir George Grey trusts that this statement will tend to remove the impression which the magistrates say exists, and which they appear to have shared, that a similar course under similar circumstances, would not be adopted in the case of a poor man as in the case of one whose friends had the power of expending money in his behalf.—l am, sir, your obedient servant, H. WADDINGTON, To THE RIGHT HON. SIR G. GREY, BART., m.r., SEC RETARY OP STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT. The following is a copy of a letter addressed to Sir George Grey by Mr. Cox, the magistrate of the county of Derby, who signed the certificate of insa nity in the case of George Victor Townley : Derby, Jan. 8. Sir,—l beg to enclose you a letter signed by two borough magistrates and two medical men of Derby, and myself. Mr. Scott, the other county magistrate who signed the certificate of the 29th of December last, and who was to have eigned the enclosed letter, has suddenly been called to Scotland for the purpose of attending his sister's funeral.- -I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, W. T. Cox, J.P. for the County and Borough of Derby. To THE RIGHT Ho - s. SIR GEORGE GREY, BERT., M.P., HER MAJESTY'S PRINCIPAL SECRETARY OF STATE FOR THE HOME DEPARTMENT, &C. Sir,—We the uladersi4ned justices of the peace for the county and borough of Derby, and medical men of Derby, who signed and forwarded to you two certificates as to the insanity of George Victor Townley, dated the 27th and 29th December last, having had our attention called to a memorial, signed by certain "magistrates of the county of Derby" dated the sth inst., beg to solicit your considera tion of the following facts. _ _ _ Upon the trial of the prisoner, Mr. H. F. Gisborne and Mr. J. H. Sims, the surgeon and governor of the gaol in ' which the prisoner was confined, deposed to the fact of the prisoner being insane at that period,—viz., on the 11th of December, and the Rev. H. Moore (chaplain of the gaol) made a written report of the prisoner's insanity in his Minute-book, for the inspection of the visiting justices early in the month of December, and we have been credibly in formed and believed that, notwithstanding such evidence of the surgeon and governor and report of the chaplain, none of the visiting justices or county magistrates, excepting ourselves, have visited the prisoner or taken any action whatever upon such evidence or report. . . We beg further to state that we entered upon the inquiry as to the prisoner's mental condition from a mere sense of duty, and we took considerable pains to ascertain the true state of his mind. On the one hand, we believe our certifi cates to be perfectly true, while, on the other, we are assured that none of the county magistrates who havo signed the memorial of the sth inst. have any personal knowledge of the subject matter of our certificates. Neither the prisoner's adviser nor any of his friends were present at our examina tions, and they have in no way influenced our judgment, or attempted to do so.—We have, &c., W. T. Cox, J.P. for the Borough of Derby. J. B. TORISAN, J.Y. for the Borough of Derby. Taos. ROE, Mayor of the Borough of Derby. HENRY GOODE, M.B, and M.R.C.S. THOMAS HARWOOD, Surgeon &c., and Medi cal Officer to the Derby Union, Derby, Jan. 8. ADVERTISEMENT ]—Avoid medicines: they always aA'ara vats chronic complaints, but Du Barry's Delicious Health Restoring Revalenta Arabica Food, which saves fifty times its cost in other remedies, invariably cures them, restoring perfect digestion, strong nerves, sound lungs, healthy liver' pure blood, refreshing sleep, functional regularity, and energy to the most disordered or enfeebled. We extract a few oa t of 60,000 Cures :—Cure No. 53,216 or the Marchioness de Braan, Paris, of a liver complaint, wasting away for see n years, debility, with a nervous palpitation all over, Da d digestion, constant sleeplessness, the most intolerable Lordnery ° us agitation, and dreadfully low spirited.—Cure No. 1 , 771 . Stuart de Decies, Lord Lieut. of Wate;ford, of many t ears' dyspepsia.—No. 49,832. "Fifty years' indescribable a ' z°nY from dyspepsia, nervousness, asthma, cough, constß ati°n ' flatulency, spasms, sickness, and vomiting.—Maria Jolly —Cure No. 16,270. Mr. James Roberts, of Frimley, t .:urrey, of thirty years' diseased lungs, spitting of blood, liver derange mcnt, and partial deafness.—Cure No. 47,121. Miss Elizabeth Jacobs, cf extreme nervousness, indigestion, gatheril"-1.8, low spirits, and nervous fancies.—Cure No. 54,816. Tv Rev. Jas, T. Campbell , Fakenham , Norfolk, "of indigestio n and torpi dity of the liver, which had resiste 1 all medical treatment." In tins, 1 lb., 2 s. 9 d. ; 21 b., 4 s. 6 d ; 51b., lls. ; 141 b., 225. ; 241 b 40s. —Barry Du Barry and Co., No. 77, Regent- s treet, London ; also Fortnum and Mason ; and all Grocers Anti Chemists iv every town of the United Kingdom, him, walked into his counting house lately, and saying he understood he (witness) was famous for the mirrors he supplied for the entertainment of "The Ghost," ordered one for £l6, and asked at the same time for a loan of £2, which witness was to add to the bill. During the conver sation the prisoner took witness's umbrella from a stand and began twirling it about. Witness asked to be excused for a moment and went out, saying a gentleman wished to speak with him. On his return to the counting-house the prisoner was gone, taking the umbrella with him, and witness had not seen him since until now. This being the case against the prisoner, he received the usual caution from the Bench as to anything he might say, upon which he said that at every place where he gave an order it was on the distinct understanding that he was to forward the money either by cheque or by Post-office order, on the receipt of which the goods were to be sent to him. Alderman Waterlow—But you took Mr. Medwin's goods away with you and had a bill and receipt, having given a worthless cheque for them. The prisoner said the boots fitted him very well, and it was arranged that he was to have more. He confessed it was an error to give the cheque, but he should have sent the money on receiving the rest of the goods. He could pay every penny of the money he owed. There was no intention on his part to swindle anyone, or to do anything dishonest. When ho was apprehended ho gave a correct address and the names of two respectable persons for pur poses of reference. A swindler would not have done that ; and, by the way, when the proper time arrived he should bring an action against the witness Millhouse for giving him into custody, He might add that an accident had oc curred while he was performing "The Ghost," by the breaking of a looking-glass which had cost him That was all he had to say. Alderman Waterlow was afraid the prisoner was too well known about town. Prisoner (interrupting)—Not in the sense in which you think; but when misfortune befalls a man there are always people ready to run him down. Alderman Waterlow said he had not the slightest hesita tion in committing him for trial. The defence ho had set up was wholly ridiculous. He had obtained possession of the goods of Mr. Mills and Mr. Medwin, and had given in payment checks which were utterly valueless, not to men tion the poor cabmen whom he had defrauded. He stood committed to Newgate for trial. Several cabmen stood forward to prefer charges against the prisoner, but the circumstances wero not investigated. One of them, on being told by Mr. Goodman that his remedy was in the County Court, said that ho had never been able to find the prisoner. Alderman Waterlow said the applicant knew where to find him now. (A laugh.) The prisoner was then removed from the bar. Defalcations of the Lambeth Rate Collectors Last evening a public meeting of the ratepayers of the parish of St. Mary, Lambeth, was held at the Horns Tavern, Kennington-park, for the purpose of considering the serious defalcations which have recently been discovered in the case of two of the collectors of the parish rates, and to devise means for the prevention of such occurrences in future. As the matter had given rise to much commotion in the parish the meeting was crowded by respectable ratepayers, who evinced much interest in the proceedings. Mr. Webber having been voted to the chair, Mr. GILES then moved the following resolution :—" That defalcations having occurred with two of the rate collectors of this parish to a very considerable extent, this meeting deem it of the highest importance for the protection of the ratepayers that immediate steps be taken to ascertain and inquire into the management of the collectors and the sys tem of check adopted with the accounts, and that the Poor law Board be requested to institute an inquiry forthwith into the whole of the circumstances and report thereon." In support of the resolution Mr. Giles entered into a detail of tha manner in which the business of the parish was con ducted. There was the board of guardians, who had the management of the poor, but who had nothing to do with the collection of the rates. Then there was the }curial board and the vestry, with the churchwardens and overseers, the latter having the management of the rates. The number of assessments in the parish was 23,000, and the rateable value £556,420, the amount assessed as poor rate being £93,000, and the total amount assessed fcr all purposes was £152,221, for the collection of which there were 12 collec tors, and the cost of collection was £3,240, an average of £270 to each collector. Under such circumstances, there fore, when there was such an amount of money to be dealt with, the most rigid supervision should be exercised over the collectors. Mr. MERCER having seconded the resolution, Mr. STRATTON said he had the misfortune to appearbefore them as one of their churchwardens, and ho could assure them no one regretted the state of matters more than did the churchwardens. He admitted the system was bad, and that more supervision was necessary, and in order in some degree to remedy the matter they had called in a profes sional accountant, who was making a strict investigation of the books. He was churchwarden in 1855, and they had then a staff of arrear collectors, who, coming after the re- gular collectors, operated as a check upon them, and it was almost impossible for them to have cheated the parish, but in 1556 the Poor Law auditors had refused to sanction those arrear collectors, and ever since they had little or any check upon the collectors. After some further disc fission Mr. Buckton moved as an amendment that the meeting abstain from expressing any opinion in respect of these defalcations until the account ant now examining the books gave in his report thereupon. Mr. GODFREY seconded the amendment, but the mover of it having ascertained that the accountant who was in vestigating the books had been appointed by the church wardens and overseers, and not by the Poor-law Board, withdrew the amendment, and the original resolution was carried amid much applause. Mr. PHELPS then moved that a memorial, founded on the resolution just adopted, be proposed and presented to the Poor-law Board—such memorial to be signed by the chairman on behalf of the meeting. Mr. BATLEY having seconded the resolution, it was unanimously adopted, and the proceedings terminated with a vote of thanks to the chairman. Frightful Accident at Woolwich Dockyard, THREE MEN KILLED AND SEVERAL INJURED Yesterday afternoon considerable excitement prevailed in the town of Woolwich, in consequence of a fearful accident, which occurred at her Majesty's dockyard, causing the death of three workmen and severe injuries to several others em ployed at the establishment. It appears that the paddle steam•vessel Spiteful, lying at the east side of the inner basin, had been condemned as unfit for further service, and arrangements made for the removal of her boilers and ma chinery by means of the powerful crane and sheers on the wharf, which is worked by hydraulic pressure. A conside rable number of artisans and labourers from the steam fac tory department were employed on board the Spiteful to carry out the required operations, and one of the boilers having been attached to the gear, was lifted from its position, and had just cleared the hold of the ship when at that time (a quarter to 3 o'clock) the tenth link from the cylinder of the massive chain attached to the sheers snapped asunder, and the sheers being thus released, suddenly canted round with the ponderous gear attached, sweeping with tremendous force over the deck on which the men were standing. A scene of the utmost confusion and havoc resulted. The men were knocked about in all directions ; the heavy chain and gear falling upon their heads and bodies. As soon as pos sible assistance was at hand, and the authorities and medical officers of the dockyard went on board the vessel, the deck of which presented a shocking spectacle. Two men named William Johnson, aged 43, leading hand at the factory de partment, and Patrick Kelly, aged 25, a factory labourer, were found lying dead, five men dangerously wounded, and others more or less injured. The most severe cases were those of George Nash, fractured skull, who it was evident could not long survive ; Patrick MiGennity, fractured skull; Edward Reed, broken leg and other injuries; Cor nelius Regan, compound fracture of thigh, and Edward Adams, injury. The deceased men and the worst cases of the wounded were immediately after the accident removed to the Royal Marine Hospital, and every attention was rendered to the sufferers by Drs. Thompson, Kelly, and Minnoch ; but on inquiry at the establishment last evening it was ascertained that George Nash expired about two hours after his admis sion, and M`Gennity and Reed are in a very precarious con dition. The sheers wore erected about three years since, and the link of the chain which snapped is about two inches in dia meter, weighing several pounds, and of wrought iron. Many mistakes have occurred in the observations made on the appointment of Mr. Beard to the office of Court Newsman, from which Mr. Doane retires. This Office has nothing to do, as stated, with the clerkship of presentations, which concerns ecclosiastical appointments, and is in the gift of the Lord Chancellor.. The Court Newsman's duty is to distribute daily to the morning papers a document supplied from Court, and called the " Court Circular"—not in any way o onnected with a newspaper so called. The office of Court Circular, or Court Newsman, commenced under the reign of George 111. The King, being m uch annoyed at the inaccuracies in the papers as to the royal movements, took the advice of the chief metropolitan magistrate, and appointed a Court Newsman ; and Mr. Doane, the grand father of the late official, was installed in the office, which has gradually developed itself in importance. The record - ing of the official doings of Ministers' reception o f deputa tions, sending off despatches, and announcements of ap pointments, fall to this officer. The Lord Chamberlain like wise makes a heavy demand on the Court Newsman's services, as he is seated in the ante-room on drawing-room and levee days, and has to prepare and forward to the daily press a list of the company present, as also to do the like duty on the occasion of Royal balls and evening receptions, iastal of - lations of Knights of the Garter, &c. At some periods the year the business to be doe ver y heavy, a nd the lithographed sheet which the Court Newsman has to get struck off by press at his own private residence cannot fre qoontly.be forwarded to the daily papers b e fore two or three o'cipek in the morning. At other times of the year the duties arc, comparatively speakin b 't duty throughout the y ear i s necessary, limit, a lthoug h ry,and the responsibi lities are always great,---court Journal. daily COAL Prices of Coal per Ton at _ Hastings Hartley ....18 d 9 Walls B° d. Eden Main ...24 0 Haswell ........ Hetton ........ Ca 880........... ' 1) Walls End. Tunstall Ships at mark( )t, 251; sold, 25. Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS DUE. , I a ll ' Australia and Mauritius, vi a S o uthampton... •'' JO' ';' via Marseilles ...... •'' fel i ' '' irazil and Cape Verds, by British packet. ...... '3O 0 Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena.' 10' 0 , China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southamptonv, v ia Marseilles ...' / ' Falkland Islands ......... JO' la' Gibraltar, via Southampton I f 3ll ''' India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton 10 , 11 , via Marseilles..•'lo / 1 I n di a (Bombay), via Southampton " J o. ,„ via Marseilles F eb ' P0rtuga1.......... Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton .... ' SP' via Marseilles ...... ':1 0. , Newfoundland .. Vl' Oporto and Vigo .. . ........... ~ ~ U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packets OI, by U.S. p a cket.' ot ,.St' ii , 0, by Canadian pac' Fe _,, 1 . ,, , 1 W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Teneritre ....... .3''',,.%' Bahamas, via New York .................... ..p'e . ii Mexico.. All parts of West Indies, including Chili, P eru ' yy - California. and British Columbia. ........... ' 1 :1$' 1 0.1 4 4 1 46%, London : Printed and Pub:ished WILLTA ,oce tit of No. 112, Strand , Printer,at THE SUN ‘ 1 ,,, Strand, in the Precinc t of the lavoy. in t " —Tueoday, January 12, 1861' 11t, a4.1 ke41,1 SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS, POST.—The decisions delivered by the Barons of the Exchequer in the Alexandra case leave the re lative positions of the Crown and the defendants practically unaltered. In the courseof Michaelmas term the Attorney-General obtained a conditional rule for a new trial, and, cause having been shown by the counsel for the defendants why that rule should not be made absolute, the members of the Court have now given judgment. The Lord Chief Baron and Baron Bramwell are of opinion that the rule should be discharged, or in other words, that the verdict found at the trial for the defendants should not be disturbed; whilst Barons Channell and Pigott have pronounced for making the rule absolute, that is to say, for a new trial. The Court being thus equally divided, no definite judgment could in effect be pronounced ; but, in order to fur nish one from which an appeal might be made to the Court of Exchequer Chamber, Mr. Baron Pigott, as the junior member of the Court, withdrew his judgment. The majority, then, being in favour of discharging the rule, it was formally discharged, and against such judgment the counsel far the Crown will now appeal to the Court above. The public are so perfectly conversant with all the cir cumstances under which proceedings were insti tuted by the law officers of the Crown in this re markable case, that it will be necessary only very briefly to advert to them. An information was filed by the late Attorney-General against certain per sons claiming to be the owners of a vessel seized by the Crown in the port of Liverpool, and in the con struction of which it was alleged the law had been violated, and the vessel, with its appurtenances, thereby forfeited to the Crown. It was a proceed ing not against the defendants personally, but against the ship, and the issue to be decided was ether the Crown was entitled to retain possession of the latter, or was bound to restore it those claim ing to be, its owners. The whole case turned on the construction which should be put upon certain sections of an Act of Parliament known as the Foreign Enlistment Act. By the seventh section it is provided that if any person shall, within the United Kingdom, " equip, furnish, fit out, or arm," or "attempt to equip," &c., any vessel, " with intent or in order" that such vessel should be employed for hostile purposes against a friendly Power, he shall be guilty of a misdemeanour, and that every such vessel shall be forfeited to the Crown. On the trial it was proved that, in respect to her mode of construction, the Alexandra was better fitted for warlike than for commercial purposes, and that she was easily convertible into a ship of war. It was also proved, however, that at the time of her seizure she had no armament on board. The Lord Chief Baron, who tried the case, explained to the jury that the building" of a ship intended for war like purposes was not forbidden by the Act, and left it to them to say whether the Alexandra was " equipped, furnished, armed, or fitted out" within the meaning of the Foreign Enlistment Act, or whether it was the intention of the defendants to equip or arm the ship within her Majesty's domi nions. The jury decided that she was not so equipped, and likewise negatived the intent to effect her equipment in an English port. The rule nisi for a new trial was obtained on the grounds of misdirection and of the verdict being against the weight of evidence, and that rule has now, as already explained, been discharged. It is remark able that whilst the two senior members of the court concurred in upholding the verdict upon the same grounds, the two junior members were of opinion that it should be set aside for reasons totally dis tinct. The Lord Chief Baron and Mr. Baron Bram well were satisfied equally with the direction of the former to the jury and with the justice of the ver dict. as measured by the evidence adduced on the trial. Mr. Baron Channell gave his voice for a new trial chiefly because he believed that the Lord Chief Baron had not sufficiently explained to the jury the law as pertinent to the case, and had misled them by placing the sale of armed ships and of munitions of war on the same footing. Mr, Baron Pigott, on the other ha nd, rested his judgment on the misinterpretation of the meaning of the section of the statute by the Lord Chief Baron, and on the ver dict being against the weight of evidence. In his opinion, the obvious construction of the ship for warlike purposes, the stanchions with which she was supplied, and the cookhouse—constructed for the accommodation of large numbers of men — with which she was furnished, all tended to show ether an actual " fitting out" or an intent so to do within the meaning of the Act. The discrepancy between the grounds on which Barons Channell and Pigott have arrived at the same con elusion in itself, therefore, gives additional weight to the judgments of the Lord Chief Baron and Baron Bramwell, which, in train of reasoning and in results, entirely correspond. It is impossible, however, to read the decisions of the two last-named judges without ar riving irresistibly at the conclusion that in the building of the Alexandra the Foreign Enlistment Act was not violated. That statute designedly omits to prohibit the " building" of ships of any class whatever, whether intended for peaceful or for warlike purposes. Shipbuilding is an important branch of English trade, and that branch the Legis lature clearly never intended to paralyse. The sole point, therefore, to be determined on the late trial was whether the construction of a vessel in such a manner as to be easily convertible into a ship of war was such an equipment or fitting out as the Legislature intended to prohibit. That it was not intended to arm the Alexandra in an English port was universally .conceded ' • no one doubting that , like the Alabama, she would have taking her arma ment on board in some foreign port, or on the high seas. It was impossible, however, to give to the terms used in the Foreign Enlistment Act any other than a common-sense meaning, and, without an ob. vious straining, they could not bear the interpreta tion sought to be put upon them by the Crown. Even although the builders of the Alexandra may have intended the vessel should be employed against the Government of the United States, still, unless such intent was manifested by their putting her in a position to be so employed, they could not be con sidered as having violated the law. A fair test is furnished by the Lord Chief Baron when he asks what would have been the condition of the Alex andra on reaching the high seas had she been per mitted to depart. She would have been absolutely powerless for hostile purposes. Without armament or military equipment of any kind she would have been a mere hulk. Would she, then, in such a posi tion, have been " armed, furnished, equipped, or fitted out" within the meaning of the Foreign En listment Act ? It is impossible for any one seriously to answer the question in the affirmative, and, that being so, there can be no reason to question the justice of the verdict given by the jury in favour of the detendants. TIMES.—Sir George Grey has lost no time in replying to the remonstrance addressed to him by the magistrates of the county of Derby in the case of Townley, and his letter, containing a full account of the grounds upon which he acted, will be found in our columns this morning. This document places the respite of Townley in a very different light from that which has given rise to so much popular dis satisfaction, while at the same time it reveals a point of far more serious and startling character than any hitherto noticed in reference to the case. In the first place, this feeling of dissatisfaction has arisen for the most part under the impression that the re spite of the prisoner has been granted by Sir George Grey in the exercise of his discretion. The public will, therefore, be startled to hear that he does not appear to have had any discretion at all in the matter. Neither the suggestion of the Judge nor the consequent examination of the prisoner by the Lunacy Commissioners has had anything to do with the matter. Sir George Grey has not had even to form a judgment upon the merits of the case. It appears that by an Act of Parliament, passed in 1840, it is enacted that whenever any person con fined in any prison under sentence of transportation, imprisonment, or death shall be declared insane by I two physicians or surgeons and two justices of the peace for the place wherein the prison is situate, it shall become the duty of the Secretary of State to send him to an asylum. The precise words, indeed, of the Act are "it shall be lawful," but it is well known that this is a regular legal term, implying an obligation, and not a permission. In the case of this particular Act there appears, at all events, to be no doubt that this is their meaning, and Sir G. Grey is strictly accurate in saying that " this is the construction which has been uniformly placed" upon e hpel form a N cr e o edc w e np e aware,t eGwfbo haauueatettteose considerations s rod wg e r of her George the as i yheu o rae n ertr efhooyi certificate Majesty an n r. question. executed,u p oan nn td ht as t s uhoierf e the hdta hntpadyut hands certifi cate, o i ee c fr tA a isfi r ci are dl whole y question thoelf, n e c d e s s t e n h settled, whatever. t l eaodnnht Hel e)matter independently jaut tdegr ofoe of wlaa' Secretary,onan s w dy n toi utekahryneye' token there was nothing left to the authmoreities.but to obey a plain direction in a recent Act of Parliament, and to order Townley's removal to a lunatic asylum. This statement ought to be sufficient, as we shall presently point out, to remove any feeling of jealousy in regard to the supposed injustice of the proceedings, but it discloses a state of things which ought to be far more startling and alarming to the public mind than the worst suspicions hitherto en tertained. A parti a l a d m i nistr a t i on o f justice couldj in this country only b e an acc id enta l and isolated circumstance, and would be sure, if it occurred, to be sdecisivelyegregiously morep u ta serious, eb t rs o iuo p r ud t s We S t h u i t the existence of a law s h e a n v a e c t a m l w e n a t y s a p b p e e e a n r s a t e () customed to s uppose that the prerogative of pardqn rested entirely with the Sovereign ; that when a prisoner Was epee convicted nothing but the Queen's I mercy, exercised upon the recommendation of th . o Home Secretary, could save him. But from th"s statute it would appear that a prisoner under set y tence of death can at any time be reprieved by me,t: force of a certificate of his insanity, drawn 1113 two physicians or surgeons of any c h ara cter ° opinions whatever, attested bv two j ust i ce s of t he peace of any idiosyncracies or intellig ence whatev e ?' Now, as it has been made abundantly evident, in !fs'Dl course of the discussion on this case , that medi men of high standing may be found who will certify to the existence of insanity in almost any c oncei c able case of murclor, and who, indeed, would be more likely to give the required certif i cate the wo rse the murder was, it is certain that the medical seeo; rity for the execution of justice in the spirit of t h e law is worth absolutely noth in g , Nor do we e e d that matters are made much better by the requiree addition ot the signatures of two justices of the peel: It would be hard if out of the ir3gistrates ; co unty town two could not be induced , e ither by f clever lawyer, or by the medical men t hemselvee,, : , by some crotchet or sentiment , or by s ome p op°`, cry, to endorse such a certificate. W e do not sl for our part, why anybody need be hanged s'lltf this loophole to escape by. At all events we fi t r o certain that any clever rascal, by the help 01 t clever lawyer, might take advantage of the 1 0 i It is scarcely possible to exhaust the anomaly such a state of things. Great complaint has beet, very properly made of the irresponsible and tiocebe tam character of the Commissions which might, to appointed by the Home Secretary to inqu ire 113 1/ , such cases as these. But the Home Secretary u„ all events, responsible for noting on the report of Commissions he appoints, and, unsatisfactorl4 any secret tribunal of the sort must necessarily '„' the persons appointed by him can hardly be ot . h!` o. wise than independent and competent authoritleo, But the tribunal to which this Act gives an act rity to revise the sentence is fortuitous, and either ignorant or prejudiced, or both, and its aot 1 " 0 removes all responsibility from any one. It felt to be sufficiently unsatisfactory that an tt°,rbe stricted and unregulated power of: rever sin g solemn sentence of a court of law should rest e! e i , in a responsible Minister of the Crown ; but It f i amazing to find this power placed in the hande l any two crotchetty medical men and any two ,101 informed or prejudiced justices of the peace. ItLe* been found dangerous that the authority of a PI andjury should be set aside by a Minister act e, under the authority of the Queen ; but here the ! he thority, not only of judge and jury, bat of i Queen herself, is set aside by two magistrates 5110 two medical practitioners. The Act is said to 110, been hastily and inconsiderately passed in 18 0 , and it cannot be doubted that such a flagrant s 9 OO , malt' will be at once rectified. It is to be hoped , that, the attention of Parliament being thus in3Pe'nr tively drawn to the question, it will take the 0111 tunity to law down some satisfactory law fal l , decision of similar cases for the future. U n welco", l however, as such a revelation of the state of be law may be, it is satisfactory that it removes oc.eo shadow of ground fur the unpleasant impu tatl' op on the administration of justice which have beu°, ll loudly and unhesitatingly expressed. The whir before Sir George Grey, the Lunacy Coin sioners, and the self-constituted Coramis siov e been entirely mistaken. The matter has been atg l/ 0 a s though they were upsetting the decision of 0 jury as to whether the prisoner was insane 0 % 0 ;1 when he committed the act, whereas t he , question was whether be is insane or 13° ` e the present moment. Neither the truth the verdict nor the justice of the senteo ce in any way impugned. The sole questiono whether the sentence shall be executed. I f ot prisoner, from whatever cause, is now to ic' it is acknowledged that it would be an act °f to' humanity to put him to death. It will be' seep' from Sir George Grey's letter, that preciselio' same question of the sanity of a prisoner after „"01! tence was raised in the case of a poor man tr ie° o" the year before Townley, in precisely the salve t ri' by the intervention of the Judge, and that th e ! soner was sent to an asylum in just the salli e d that Townley has been. The accusations of P e ili ality which have been made in the matter ar°,;oll, we think, proved to bo uncalled for and unj ue ' it/ At all events, now that it is made evident tbu,9 miscarriage of justice, if there he any, is chargeto entirely on an absurd Act of Parliament, it iB i-V hoped that the public will reserve their dissait';ol tion for that strange piece of legislation, a nd no time will be lost in altering it. 111 PT PREEESTA: HOL PRopE R , r] o BE 'IA thronEr,hout No. 67, Char FREE pRo °I land e d a The noblemn cotta ze wit] OW NERS *ffo b "acc the c rds b }:state' f y fr ,B J rn ( vhere nicY can t lain;the he T., di B Veniere es,l rllEßE IS chaser is in and then on Auction AUOTiI th at The at they ] - fl u W , Auctio n ."-ftion:l4 _Printed 0 Tonder are tileY are rea IRA Uie I P! (Limited) B,pe York 1 i yew IVI4 : )I,N S I3 I' ° III X 6 Ely yo . These 11:12 st ar mete with larch • ti To load Por Alfred Laiil TraP' Georg e „ iv WYke9) Georne De s Arn. iarn L pM'Arth u y i • Sarg ip,"°ndon' gor rivi AY'res a l SI a j, ne s Thc .1?-utter-1 -' • Q ` i char , AJlizueid Directo rs bus •Jirecto rs ahrl to ma Money c urrent r n EDeelally bAN] 4 I Crsq rs 4;1 c onior i ant " 1 Ti 4. n - oT of th Nt ce utFa ', 7 b s s .p er e ii i t l'h, e PaYable4,l Nl A ow 4lB e , • ed eio 114,A n a i 7 ~,,`, Y 1114 atta, 10ilows COUNTRY MARKETS. It• COLCHESTER—JAN. 9. tt)46 There was a fair supply of wheat at our market 1/1 with a moderate business doing, and prices as folio v? Wheat, white. 44s 50s Beans,lllazagan.,'3!" ~,.;! red 40s 44s middle & sm: ll %ss 1 Barley Oats . 20s 25s grey GLOUCESTER—JAN. 9. There was a good show of English wheat to-613,111 the formers, which met a fair sale at an advance o f le qr. Foreign wheat dull, with no advance on tholo, last week. Oats, barley, beans, and peas were still unaltered in value. CIIELMSFORD—JAN. 8. ste9 lil At this corn exchange to-day there was a m ode the p ri,/' 0: of wheat, which net a tolerably active trade , and., of of last market advanced is per quarter for the best 0 Spring corn unaltered. 3 0 Wheat, old white 30s 47s l'efts, Partridge. •• '9 40' new 44s 50s White .......... 39s 0 old red 34s 40s Boiling ........ ' 3 9 ) 1 new 38s 42s Dun .......• „0 p Barley 27s 378 Ditto new ..... ' 345 / 1 Chevalier ..28s 39s Beans, Tick, old ••s 0 Grinding 22s 31s nert•' 359 ) Malt. 6ls 67s Harrow Ticks •',,s Chevalier . 64s 69s new''3o Oats 2os 28s Mazagan .....'' KIRKCALDY GRAIN—JAx. 9. at We had good supplies of barley, oats, and W 1 to at market to-day. Sales were ready, and price s qr up. Wheat. Barley. First....3ss Od 26s Gd 17s Oa Second .. 37s Od I 28s Od I 18s 0( 1 Od 30s Od 193 Ga lARKET. calf t ' the close of the el— i f a v 'ir l'4ll 11.1 e tti ti : P ll l l t th 16 t ; 70, U) It e,s , sr,i. , ~ r ehtle o j a li h t he o f -tt.ry " t , Stock Ynien . Births. an 1 6 :01 HALL—On the 10th inst., at Sheerness, the w,„" fa " i i W. King Hall, C. 8., H.M.S. Cumberlane) `" . t. IT At LICHFIELD—On the 11th inst., at 35, Dever. ~if Countess of Lichfield, of a son. 1i tile STONE.—On the 10th inst., at 114, Piccadilly' fi John Stone, Esq., of a daughter. di t 4 TIDY.—On the 9th inst , the If 11 EdEderr i 1 wi e o • of Clifford's-inn, solicitor, of a son. 0 4 Marriages. di a e o i ANDERSONPOWER.—On the 9th inst , at t%, ak-A, Martyr, Be Laney Radcliffe Andersen, „,;f K vof Royals, youngest son of the late Colonel ri,„, e ;rl+ ~ W 0 son, to Adele Jane, second daughter of W. P e 0 Esq., M.D., of Queen-square, W.C. 010Aq 11 SIMPSON—SHEFPARD.-0 tha sth inst., at St. Kilnhurst, Yorkshire, the Rev. J. Curwe ll , 01ser Frances Maria, younger daughter of Sainito Esq., of Taunton and London. Deaths. l° 11/ 1" ! ALLEN.—On the 10th inst. , at He rne- hiPo ill Esq., aged 80. Th .gleri °l4 4 ,1 BIELEFELD —On the 10th inst., Charles -.-; ,r feld, of Wellington-street, Strand, aged 60. ~ tie t DONNE.—On the 7th inst., at Weston Aric all' ' ' 0 Benj. Donne, aged 67. lace, Or A' MAcnix.—On the 10th inst., at 31, Alfred-P— lord square, Nathl. Machin, Esq., ag ed 55. 0 , ft o OSBORNE.—On the 9th inst., at VValharn-glare Sif Elizabeth, Lady Osborne, w id o w of the Is '" I, Osborne, Bart., of Beechwood , TipperarY• road, PASCALL.—On the 10th inst., at Pent onle P e / Pascall, Esq., aged 78. It use, POLLARD.—On the 10th ins t., at Crescent ,- ..-,9 We/ a ton, Robert Blemell Pollard , Es q ., late of Brompton, aged 81. W 1)0'01